ENG 409 : Renaissance Literature (including Jonson, Wyatt, and Donne)

Prerequisites: Senior Standing

This is a course for Secondary English specialists. Students will study a selection of literary work from the Renaissance period. They will consider these works in the context of the invention of the printing press and the advent of more widespread travel in Europe. In particular, students will examine the work of three writers: Sir Thomas Wyatt, who is credited with introducing the sonnet into English; Benjamin Jonson who, as a contemporary of William Shakespeare, wrote satirical plays and lyric poetry, and John Donne, who is the representative of the metaphysical poets of the period. Specific topics, reading lists, and course outlines will be published annually.